Nelson Mandela (Awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990)
Nelson Mandela, a South African Gandhi who believed in the ideas of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, was born on July 18, 1918 in the village of Mbejo, on the banks of the Bassa River (Cape Province). His mother’s name was Nomjamo Vini Medikilaja and she was a Methodist. Father’s name was Gedla Henry, who was the head of his village. Mandela played an important role in South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement. He also served as the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Mandela, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, is also called the Gandhi of South Africa.
